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HERE’S an excellent article that describes Empathic people as being the perfect target for a Sociopath to victimize. It’s like I’ve said many times. People with a good heart are easier to victimize because they’re willing to believe the best in people and aren’t prepared for the worst. Even when it happens, a person with a good heart will be quick to forgive, to want to see the good in people, and still be vulnerable to fall victim, even to the same Sociopath, more than once.

But it’s not just the Sociopath and the victim to consider. There’s also what this article refers to as the “Apath,” a person willing to conspire and enable the Sociopath, for various and assorted reasons. Likely a former victim in some way, the Apath is just as bad as the Sociopath. Maybe worse, because the Apath knows what the Sociopath is up to, but is indifferent to what’s happening to the Sociopath’s victim(s). They participate in the abuse either because they get off on it, too, don’t see how they can stop it, or because if the Sociopath is concentrating on somebody else, the Apath isn’t in the line of fire.

We’ve seen it ourselves more than once. A former victim gets free, but is battered by such a barrage of abuse that it wears them down and they go whimpering back, just to make it stop. They help the Sociopath abuse others to avoid getting abused themselves.

Apath is the word the article uses. Me, I’d use words like “spineless” and “coward.”

That’s the triad, according to that article: The Sociopath, the Apath (willing victim/enabler), and the victim.

But there’s another player in this game: The Advocate. Often, there’s somebody out there that tries to warn victims about the Sociopath, often at the risk of earning the Sociopath’s wrath themselves. It’s worth it to the Advocate, though, if the Sociopath is thwarted and victims spared even a measure of abuse.

I’ve talked about the Sociopathic predator before, again and again, and warned you about protecting yourself. I’m doing that again. The Sociopath is a skilled predator, practiced in the art of lying with a smile to manipulate victims. It’s not just the Sociopath’s job to fool people; it’s their pleasure. They like it when somebody falls victim. And not just for the money. They get off on the power trip. Often, in more ways than one.

Read that article. And don’t be embarrassed if you see characteristics of yourself in the victim’s role. Don’t feel bad. It’s not your fault and you didn’t do anything wrong. We’ve all fallen for a well-crafted lie, even from the same people.

This isn’t about making the victim feel bad. It’s about empowering yourself with information so that you and others are able to spot the warning signs and not fall into that position. Awareness is the ultimate weapon. Arm yourself with it and spread the word. If you know of others that are victims now or could become victims of the abusive Sociopath, let them know that they aren’t fated to suffer. They don’t have to put up with it.

The Sociopath seeks to shroud or hide the truth. The Advocate seeks to expose it. Hop on board with the latter rather than becoming an enable for the former. Your karma will thank you.

If you want your writing to have depth, the best place to start is with research. They say “Write what you know,” and that’s a fine thing, but there are likely to be areas of interest that you want to weave into your work about which you know little, or nothong. So you need to do your homework. It’s fine and dandy to want to write about some virus you want to unleash upon an unsuspecting population (on paper, of course), but unless you’ve gathered a PhD in microbiology, you’re going to need to do a bit of reading on the subject, first.

And do yourself a favor by digging deeper than Google. You might get a few informative hits, but there’s no substitute for reading source material. Visit a library, hit up the bookstore, pick up the phone and talk to experts in the field. Pull together all the information you can so that when you do start writing, it’s not just some sloppy idea that hits the page. Some authors out there don’t care what goes on the page. They just slap disjointed nonsense on the page and send it off to Create Space. Then they wonder why they only sell two copies and aren’t fielding film offers.

Same thing goes for location. There’s more to Florida than sun. There’s more to Maine than snow and Stephen King. There are nuances and local colloquialisms that will give your setting depth and reality if you seek them out. Simply saying that somebody soaked up some sun on the beach is well and good. But if you do a little bit of homework, you can throw in that your character took a break and went to get a gelato and Fabo’s, the best known cold sweets shop around. You can describe what a looker the counter guy is, and how much better it is in Fabo’s, now that the owner finally got the air fixed. By adding details like these, you’re making the scene about much more than a scorching strip of sand. You’re giving it character and a touch of reality, something that people who live in that area can nod at. You’ve brought them into the story because they’ve had sweets at Fabo’s, too. They’ve winked at the counter stud, and they’ve been grateful for a break from the heat. Basically, they’ve lived in the world you visit in your book. Just like that, your story is more than words on a page.

Whether it’s books or film, all fiction depends upon a consumer’s ability to suspend reality and accept the world with which you present them. And with just a few words, you’ve made your story that much more believable. That much more real.

You’ll need to research your characters as well, who they are and what to call them. If, for example, you want to represent a fellow as being strong and independent, you might want to chose a moniker like, say, Johnny Reb. It’s true, the Johnny Rebs were, well, rebellious, fighting for what they thought was their god-given rights as southern men.

But there are a couple of things wrong with using a name like that.

First off, it’s unoriginal as all hell. It’s been used into the ground. Unless you really don’t care about the guy, you might want to come up with something a lot more inventive, creative, original. You’re a writer, right? Use that imagination to come up with something that suits him and sums up his unique personality.

Secondly, the north won the civil war. You might think that calling him Johnny Reb is a bold statement, but you might just be setting him up as a loser. Unless he is one.
Think about it.

After your book is written, your research still isn’t over. Don’t be so naive or so eager that you sign with the first publisher that shows you some interest. Don’t fall for some small press that promises you the moon but can’t deliver. Don’t fall in with a scam.

If any publisher shows interest in you, the most important thing that you can do for yourself and your work is to research them. Google is your best friend, in this case. Look ’em up. Are they legitimate? And make no mistake. A piece of paper on a DBA or tax ID don’t make a company legal. If the owner has a track record of swindling authors, especially with a string of companies that all folded, run the other way as fast as your literary little legs can carry you. If they couldn’t make any of those other companies work, what makes you think the latest one will? If the owner is known to scam, swindle and lie to other authors, what makes you think they won’t do the same thing to you?

No.

Have more respect for your work than to allow somebody like that near it. Have more respect for yourself. There is a publisher out there for your work. You have to be patient and do the legwork. Write out your queries and cover letters, research (there’s that word again) the different publishing houses. There are a ton of them out there that aren’t scams. Find one of those.

Perhaps a better use of your time would be spent looking for an agent. If you find a decent agent, it’s their job to find you a publisher. And, within each literary house, there are usually agents that represent different genres, so research them, too.

In this digital age, there’s also the option of self-publishing. If you’re willing to be diligent about your own marketing and promotion, that might be a better option than signing with any small press. At least, sink or swim, you’re the only one keeping your royalties.

There are no shortcuts in writing. Not if you want to do it for a living and enjoy any measure of success. You can’t just slap some sloppy work in a word document, throw it out there and expect the world to come to you. It just doesn’t happen that way. Writing is real work. So, unless you’re willing to stick it out and do it right, don’t quit your day job. It’s not easy, the thought of putting in all this work around your already full schedule, but it’s necessary, if you really want it.

Remember this. Stephen King wrote his first book, Carrie, sitting in a cramped laundry room with his typewriter balanced on his knees, a little at a time after he got home from his day job, teaching. He and his wife lived in a trailer at the time. They barely got by. And look where he is now. He didn’t get that way by luck. He made the time. He did the work.

Unca Stevie’s sons learned that same work ethic, and they’re successful writers, too. Young Joe Hill saw his book “Horns” made into a movie starring Harry Potter himself, Dan Radcliffe. Not shabby at all. And he’s not riding daddy’s coattails, either. He doesn’t use his famous father’s last name, and he treats writing like a “real” job, too, setting aside a minimum of time every day to do it.

If you’re a “real” writer, you’ll do the same. You’ll make the time to do the writing work, and then you have to work even harder selling it to the right market. Make sure you’re signed on with a team that’s willing to work at least as hard as you do.

What will save you is the research you do, for the writing and for publishing it. What you learn for one book can be used toward your next, and with each effort you produce, you learn that much more. By doing so much research and accumulating this wealth of information, you aren’t just building an arsenal of knowledge. You’re building a career.

I met Tabetha on Halloween 2014 at the local haunted house I work at. She was in line with Dee & motioned me to come over. As I walked towards her, she looked as if she tripped toward me. She said repeatedly that my outfit was “bad ass” & asked me if I ever modeled before. I told her it has been a dream of mine to do so. She made a big deal about my outfit & asked where I got it from.

To let you know, I was dressed as a cenobite from Hellraiser. I was dressed in all patent leather, corset, skirt, arm warmers, & platform boots.
She ended up giving me her & Dee’s business cards.

Later, when Tabetha told me her side of meeting me, she said she saw my aura & it was such a beautiful blue. She also stated that her deceased father was standing behind her & pushed her forward as I approached, that is why it looked like she was going to trip. Tabetha said, that it was meant for us to meet that night.

Later the next day she had messaged me through my Gore Goddess page on Facebook. I in turn added her to my main Facebook profile & at a later time, contacted her so we can talk about scheduling a shoot. This was around mid November when we talked & I told her I had to wait till any time after the first of December. We agreed to schedule it Friday, 5th of December. She told me to bring anything I wanted to use for the shoot, especially the outfit I wore Halloween night when we met.

She also found out I loved to write & asked what sort of writing do I do. I told her erotic & dark (horror & depression). She wanted to see one of each, so I showed her. She fell in love with them & began to tell me about Phoenix Fire Publishing. She also told me she was an author & a publisher. Tabetha began to tell me about a book she was currently putting together, an anthology. It was titled Wicked Enticements, a collection of erotic poems & short stories (this book will be explained at a later time, I entered some of my poems & a short story.). Of course, I got excited! I thought to myself, my writing is going to be finally published. I was told by Tabetha I could be one of her authors & supposedly sign a year contract with Phoenix Fire Publishing.
Tabetha also wanted to see my wardrobe because my outfit from Halloween was so “bad ass” (yes, a favorite thing she says constantly).

For some of you that do not know anything about me, I lead a Gothic lifestyle. My wardrobe consist of a lot of black, corsets, lace, along with my accessories & wigs. Tabetha, Rylee & Dee came over I think a week before the shoot, not sure the actual date.

I just know it was the same day Dee was released from De Paul, at least, that is what I was told. I never questioned too much of what happened to Dee. I was only going by what Tabetha told me of Dee trying to kill herself. The only thing I thought about was, if someone tried to kill themselves & just got out of the hospital, they would not want to do or go anywhere else but home. Am I right? If that was me, the last thing I would want to do is visit someone, but maybe that is just me.

When they got here, Dee didn’t act like anything had been wrong with her, she was all smiles & in a pretty good mood. If I had not been told what happened to her, I would never have guessed she had tried to commit suicide. We had gone through my closet looking at everything, Tabetha made a big deal about everything she saw. Tabetha wanted me to bring a lot of it to use for several wardrobe changes. She also asked if she could use some of it in a shoot she had coming up. I didn’t have a problem with it.

It came time for the shoot, she picked me up & we headed to her place. I get there & the living room is set up for the shoot. I met her mom, she was a very kind, sweet lady, I liked her. According to Tabetha, she said I was nervous. What do I have to be nervous about? I work at a haunted house as a haunt actor, been in front of the camera numerous times because of it, & even behind the camera. I was even in a video for Texas Microphone Massacre, a band in Austin, Texas, a lot of cameras there. So, nervous? No, not in the least!

The way Tabetha acted, gave me the impression she was the owner of everything. I thought it was Dee’s business, yet Tabetha was running the show, calling all the shots. From what I witnessed, Tabetha was irritating Dee by being so bossy. At the same time, it was like Dee didn’t know what to do, she really didn’t give too much direction. I got the feeling Dee had not been doing this for very long.

I finished with the first set & helped Tabetha get ready for the next set. I also had to get myself ready & my stuff together. It was gonna be in the cemetery. I did Tabetha’s makeup & put one of my wigs on her & she wore some of my clothing. Before we left, Dee said something to Tabetha about blessing her before we left to the cemetery. She had a little bottle of oil, opened it & said some words/chant, put some on my forehead & on Dee as well. I asked her what was in the bottle because it smelled like lavender. She replied that it had lavender & some other stuff in it. It was made for protection, nothing would harm us while in the cemetery doing the shoot. I asked her if she needed some & she said no, she is already protected & nothing will get to her.

We left & did the shoot in the cemetery, I got home around 10:30pm. I had enjoyed myself, but was wondering at the same time, why is Tabetha in so many of the photos with me? I really didn’t give it much more thought after that, I asked her how long would it be before I get the photos. She informed me that when she goes through them & does her edits, she will send them to me.

Now, I can tell you from being in that house and seeing things for myself that the way she presents herself as to how she treats her family is a far cry from the truth. I could tell you some stories that would have you sobbing for the innocent but unlike her, I will leave the innocent out of it.

It took almost two weeks to get my photos from her after the shoot. I liked them, but at the same time, I didn’t. I thought they would have been better. The lighting was off & it felt as if I didn’t have enough room to do any poses. The whole atmosphere wasn’t all that great. The edits she did on my photos were too dark, you couldn’t really see me in some.
See for yourself.
In my opinion, the editing pretty much sucked. I was quite disappointed & thought to myself, maybe the next shoot will be better.

Ordinarily, I leave all things Nikita to The Rusty Nail because they’re the real experts on this doosh, but I’m giving him a mention today for two reasons.

First, he decided to dust off his idiotic notion that I have anything to do with his imaginary enemies sabotaging his career. As if his own instability weren’t enough to do that all on its own.

Second, it seems that he’s using this blog to try and recruit Tab’s former victims into his own psychotic little publishing effort. He’s hit up at least one that I know of today, so be on the lookout. If somebody named Nickolaus Pacione contacts you about publishing with him, do yourself a favor. Delete and block him. Publishing with this guy after you’ve dealt with Tabetha Jones wouldn’t be like jumping from the frying pan into the fire, it would be like jumping out of the frying pan into a swimming pool full of gasoline which then gets ignited by a nuclear bomb roughly the size of Florida.

I could go on and on about all the reasons why it would be a bad idea to talk to this guy about your work, but I’ll leave it with just two words and a few screen caps. The two words are: Homophobic and Asshat.

Here are the screen caps.

I’ll also leave you with a reminder. If you want to do your homework about this guy, visit the Rusty Nail. You’ll thank me later, so I’ll say it ahead of time:

Sound familiar? Well, it should. It’s the same scenario as her photo shoot with Salena, almost shot for shot. I had the pictures of Salena’s session posted as proof, but the crybaby Tabetha stuck her widdle lip out pouting, stomped her widdle foot and told me to take the photos down, so I’ll describe them to you, instead.

First, Tabetha grieves at the feet of the same exact weeping angel as the new photo shoot, dressed in black period garb, wearing a black wig and makeup that (for once) doesn’t include red eyebrows that look like they’re done in magic marker.

Next, she’s approached by the lovely Salena, dressed in a lovely gothic frock and hat, with impeccable makeup and style.

Salena, the vampire, bites Tab on the left shoulder, in exactly the same spot, in exactly the same way as the new guy does in the copycat shot. Same two blood trails and everything.

Next, Tab sucks blood from Salena’s arm in exactly the same way as the new photo shoot, except in the older one, she doesn’t look like she’s taking a shit.

Finally, Tab becomes a vampire herself, with blood trickling from the corners of her mouth in EXACTLY the same fashion as the copycat new session.

It’s the same weeping statue, same poses, same plot, everything is EXACTLY the same in the new photos, recreated verbatim from Salena’s photo session.

Well, not everything. In this photo shoot, the other model is a young guy, and neither one of them are wearing period or themed clothing. In this one, Tab’s wearing her black Marilyn dress and hooker heels, while the guy wears just a tee shirt and jeans. Not very inventive.
This shoot doesn’t look like a story captured in a series of photos. It looks like exactly what it is. Tab and her new boy toy playing copycat to Salena’s photos.

There’s another difference, too. Salena had the good sense and taste to turn down the lingerie in the graveyard iea. Tab goes right for it, though, posing all “Let me try to be sexy” on somebody’s headstone. I don’t know about you, boys and girls, but I think that’s hugely disrespectful to the dead. And this from somebody who doesn’t just ask, but DEMANDS respect for her departed, real or imagined.

That’s Tab in a nutshell, though, isn’t it? Demanding that she be treated in ways she refuses to treat others: with respect, kindness, love, civility, decency, fairness or honesty. Anybody that thinks they’re seeing any of the above from her is either fooling themselves or just hasn’t known her long enough yet. Give it time and they will. They always do.

Tabetha still insists that she doesn’t lie, cheat or steal. She says that when she is done with an author and they part ways that she takes down all their works. Right? Well I have news for you, which won’t come as a shock to the ones who have been telling the truth from the start.

But for you losers out there or authors that think you are safe, think again. I went looking since that is what we are anyway but trolls. Her so-called private page, well when you are displaying my works, it isn’t so damn private anymore now is it? Tabetha was asked to remove all my works LAST YEAR from her page. Here it is a year later and still my works are there. Oh but class it gets better, Faith, Carlie, A.J. to name a few are there also.

We will start with the convo with Tab and I last year asking her to take my works down. I can provide screen grabs if you wish, but let’s make it simple. A year ago I was contacted by a mutual friend that Tabetha still was displaying my works on her Weebly, PF Facebook page and her PERSONAL page. So yes I broke my vow to not contact her again for the sole purpose of getting her to remove my works. She of course she played innocent. Oh I had no idea they were still there. Please tell me where you found them so that I can remove. Well yes the Weebly was removed, but I told her to remove ALL from all her social media sites. Then she blocked me. Par for the course of Tabetha, if you can’t see it, you don’t know it is there.

I have since been unblocked and with all her ramblings going on I decided to be nosy. Since many have contacted me about Tabetha’s and my postings on our personal pages were quite similar and they wanted to know if we were friends again. So yes couriosity got the better of me and I went looking. And what did I find?

Yes dear former authors, you guessed it. Pictures of authors books who were no longer with her company. Covers, excerpts and teasers. And yes I reported each and every one that I knew did not work with her anymore. Once she had gotten the notice from Facebook, she of course contacted me. Again saying ,well hell I will let you read.

Now in all fairness my reply was not polite and had no intention to be seeing as how she was asked over a year ago to remove my works.
Same saying to two different men but that is how she rolls never original always a copy.

Then comes her next bombardment of bullshitAgain my reply was not polite and I am sorry to the ones reading this but at this point I have had enough.

I love how she is always playing the victim, how everyone is attacking her and how no one has any respect for her dearly departed. I also get a giggle out of her saying how great she is doing. It is also very neat and tidy that Bo has died. Now with her saying that the love of her life, the man who’s heart was consumed with being with her can now rest in her heart forever. How romantic, GAG.

Now who wants to take a bet? I am betting that her story will be something to the likes of “after what Bo did to me, threatening me with a bullet in my head,” and beating her black and blue, that the Banditos took care of it for her? Any takers?

Or maybe it will be that he was so tired of the bullshit on this blog that he took his own life.

Notice there was no apology about still promoting everyone’s books, just faked ignorance of knowing they were still there. That is such a Tabetha move. First innocence, then bluster, followed by anger and then stop harassing me. I have said this before, I am not harassing anyone but if you put my works on your page and expect me not to be mad, well think again. I am done with her crap. I am done being lied to and used. I am done with double dealings and backdoor meetings.

You all want the real deal there it is. Tabetha won’t stop until all the authors, cover artists, editors and the lot stand against her. It can’t be done with one voice. We as a whole need to stand up and use all our proof against her to make her stop. She wants to roll around in blood and act out fucked up porn scenes that is fine the only thing she is doing is looking like a fool. But she needs to be stopped with the publishing fiasco. She needs to be stopped from stealing more money and stealing YOUR DREAMS.

Here is proof of the books she had up in case there was any doubt.
These are just a few.
Now who is lying, who is using people still? I show my proof warts and all? Balls in your court Tabetha, shall we play a game?